Description

Space Quest 1: Roger Wilco in the Sarien Encounter is a remake of the original release of Space Quest: Chapter I - The Sarien Encounter. The new version has enhanced graphics (256 color VGA) and soundblaster support. It uses the SCI game engine (point-and-click interface, icons along the top) rather than the AGI engine (mixed point-and-click with text parser). Some of the puzzles have been slightly changed to accommodate the new interface and it is also possible to skip the arcade part. There are a few additional scenes and more elaborate text descriptions, mostly enhancing the humorous effect.

Forums

Trivia

Packages

Space Quest I: Roger Wilco in the Sarien Encounter was available in four different packages. A 16 color version (supported EGA, MCGA, VGA and Tandy/PCjr) with either DD 3.5" or HD 5.25" disks and a 256 color version (supported MCGA and VGA) with either HD 3.5" or HD 5.25" disks.

The game was also made available to customers via a special mail-order offer, and some or all of these were shipped in boxes from the original 1986 version.

References

The reference to King's Quest in which Roger Wilco would crash land into Daventry by pressing a button on the escape pod has been changed for the remake. You now crash into the outskirts of Nottingham Castle, as featured in Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood. Furthermore, all references to King's Quest on dialogues have been removed.

As a parody of all the instant replay hype in the pro-sports world at the time, two of the funnier deaths in the game feature a replay with commentary from the Two Guys, complete with pseudo-chalk markings on the screen.

ZZ Top

ZZ Top made a cameo appearance in the bar on Cameo. ZZ Top threatened to sue and therefore they were removed from later releases of the game. Mark Crowe:

The ZZ Top thing was a problem for us. Somehow after a couple of years they found out about their satirical cameo appearance. Even though we didn't portray them in any bad light, someone there had no sense of humor about it. We then got one of those real solid envelopes in the mail with return address overloaded with names of supposed importance, at least in their eyes. The policy decision at Sierra was that it is easier to make a change to the game rather than go to court and spend a bunch of shark money (legal fees -ed) even if we were found to be within our rights. We do have free speech in this country, but it ain't cheap.

Related Web Sites

Space Quest 1 comic book! (Downloads of all 3 issues of Malibu Comics' 1992 adaptation of SQ1 in comic book form: "The Adventures of Roger Wilco." (Written by John Shaw and Paul O'Connor, released under the Adventure Comics imprint.))

Space Quest Downloads (A site with several Space Quest-related materials, including a copy of the Space Quest FAQ.)

SpaceQuest.Net - Space Quest 1 (The most comprehensive site about Space Quest 1, both EGA and VGA versions: Basic game information, hints (with scans of the official hint book), documentation (downloadable PDF manual), demos and even design sketches.
)